Timer with means for sequential switch operation



June 24, 1969 R. D. RULSEH 3,452,165

TIMER WITH MEANS FC R SEQUENTIAL SWITCH OPERATION Filed Dec. 4, 1967Sheet of 4 ROGER D. RULSEH AGENT June 24, 1969 R RULSEH 3,452,165

T IMER WITH MEANS FOR SEQUENTIAL SWITCH OPERATION Filed Dec. 4, 1967Sheet 3 of 4 FE G. 5 Fl G. 8

7 INVENTOR.

5 ROGER D. RULSEH AGENT June 24, 1969 R. D. RULSEH 3,452,165

TIMER WITH MEANS FOR SEQUENTIAL SWITCH OPERATION Filed Dec. 4, 1967Sheet 3 of 4 INVENTOR. --/2 ROGER D. RULSEH AGENT June 24, 1969 RULSEH3,452,165

' TIMER WITH MEANS FOR SEQUENTIAL SWITCH OPERATION Filed Dec. 4, 1967Sheet 4 of 4 F I V, A F I G INVENTOR. RQGER D. RULSEH AGENT UnitedStates Patent 3,452,165 TIMER WITH MEANS FOR SEQUENTIAL SWITCH OPERATIONRoger David Rulseh, Two Rivers, Wis., assignor to American Machine &Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 4, 1967, Ser.No. 687,869 Int. Cl. H01h 7/08, 43/10 US. Cl. 20039 14 Claims ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE A timer with means for sequential switch operation inwhich the timer operating mechanism causes a first switch actuation, andhas a rotating threaded member and a resilient member which contacts thethreaded member to delay a second switch actuation until the resilientmember is deflected off the end of the threaded member by its rotation.

This invention relates generally to timers with multiple switch controlcapabilities and more particularly to the mechanism thereof to derivesequential and/ or momentary switch actuation.

Timers having a motor driven dial with positionable ON and OFF trips foroperating the timer mechanism to actuate selectively a single switch ora plurality of switches in unison during each revolution of the dial iswell known in the art. It is also old to provide a timer with duplicatemechanisms each for actuating a separate switch.

However, up to now the available timers or time switches could notprovide satisfactory sequential switch actuation with a minimal timedelay, nor momentary switch actuation with a single timed or sequentialswitch actuation. Many and varied timer constructions have been proposedbut were found to be costly, cumbersome, subject to malfunction,inaccurate and/or generally inadequate to meet the requirements dictatedby proposed embodiments therefor.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a timercapable of providing minimal time delay sequential switch actuation withor without momentary switch actuation which hereinafter will be termeddifferential switch actuation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide the foregoingtimer which is accurate, not readily subject to malfunction and hasmeans to accurately provide with facility a minimal time delay betweensequential switch actuations.

And another object of the present invention is to provide the foregoingtimer which is relatively inexpensive, of rugged construction andembodies a minimum of duplication of its mechanism.

The present invention contemplates a timer having motor means, a dialconnected for rotation to the motor means and having ON and OFF tripspositionable thereon, a snap action operator means movable between twodetented positions by said trips, a pair of actuators connected to theoperator means and moved in response to 3,452,165 Patented June 24, 1969ice its movement each for actuating a different switch, the operatormeans providing a bias to move one of the actuators when the operatormeans moves from one of its detented positions to the other, and withsaid motor means providing a restraint acting against the bias anddelaying movement of the one actuator for a predetermined period oftime.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention willappear more fully hereinafter from a consideration of the detaileddescription which follows, taken together with the accompanying drawingswherein several embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way ofexample. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawingsare for illustration purposes only and are not to be construed asdefining the limits of the invention.

FIGURES 1 and 2 are front and rear elevational views, respectively, of atimer made in accordance with the present invention,

FIGURES 2A, 2B and 2C are fragmentary elevational views illustratingvarious other positions of the operating mechanism of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURES 4 and 5 are elevational views, partly in section, taken on line44 of FIGURE 3 illustrating part of a trigger operating assembly undertwo different conditions,

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of a timer made inaccordance with the present invention embodying various modifications ofthe mechanism of FIG- URE 2,

FIGURES 6A, 6B and 6C are elevational views, similar to FIGURES 2A, 2Band 20, respectively, of the mechanism of FIGURE 6,

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view, similar to FIGURE 3, taken on line 7--7 ofFIGURE 6, and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary elevational view of a modification of thedelay spring of FIGURE 6.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG- URE 1, at timeror time switch assembly 10 is provided with a fiat plate mounting panel11, and a fiat terminal board 12 of a dielectric material which isgenerally coplanar with the mounting panel 11. The terminal board 12 isconnected to the lower portion and projects below the bottom edge of themounting panel 11.

A dial assembly 14 and a snap action switch operator or trigger assembly20 are mounted on panel 11 and are substantially the same as the dialassembly 6 and operator assembly 11, respectively, which are fullydisclosed in my copending application, S.N. 433,9l6 which was filed Feb.19, 1965 and issued Jan. 30, 1968 as US. Patent No. 3,366,801. The timer10 does not include the day omit and photoelectric mechanisms of myearlier application noted above only because such mechanisms form nopart of the present invention, and such omissions should not beconstrued as an implied limitation of the invention.

A motor 13, which has a pair of leads connected to power terminals 19and 19a mounted on terminal board 12, is mounted on the reverse or rearside of panel 11 (see also FIGURE 2) and is connected by gearing (notshown) to drive a dial assembly 14 which includes positionable tripmembers 15 and 17. The dial assembly 14 is driven through one completerevolution during each operating time period or cycle of the timer whichis determined by the requirements of the system in which the timer is tobe used. The trip 15 has a lug 16 for actuating an operator assembly toset the timer 10 to an ON condition once each revolution of dialassembly 14, and the trip 17 has a lug 18 for similarly actuating theassembly 20 but, in this instance, toreset the timer 10 to an OFFcondition. Thus, trip 15 will be considered as the ON trip, and trip 17will be the OFF trip.

Inasmuch as the snap action operator assembly 20 is substantially thesame as the operator assembly 11 which is fully shown and described inmy earlier patent application as noted above, it will be described onlybriefly herein. Operator assembly 20 as provided, has a lever 22 mountedon a pivot or axis 21 on the panel 11 and is movable between twopositions, considered to be an ON position and an OFF position. Thelever 22, which can be manually operated, has a pair of lugs or faces 23and 24 H which are positioned to be engaged by a lug 16 of the ON trip15 and a lug 16 of the OFF trip 17, respectively, for automatic timedoperation by the rotating dial as sembly 14, and is provided with afinger 25 at its upper end which extends rearwardly through the panel11.

Referring now also to FIGURE 2, the operator assembly 20 is providedwith a two position detent/plate subassembly 26 consisting of a detentslider plate disposed between panel 11 and lever 22, and a pivot plateadjacent the reverse or rear side of the panel 11. The plates of thesub-assembly are interconnected, as will be described, to be rotated inunison after the slider plate has been moved out of a detent positionand against a spring bias by rotation of the lever 22 on the pivot 21.The pivot plate of sub-assembly 26 has a rearwardly extending finger 27adjacent the finger 25 of the lever 22, and a recess or slot 28 in itsbottom edge. A pair of offset or scissor type lever arms 30 and 33 aremounted on pivot 21 and provide upwardly projecting legs 31 and 34,respectively, and depending legs 32 and 35, respectively. The fingers 25and 27 are disposed between and engaged by the legs 31 and 34 which arebiased toward each other by a tension spring 36 connected at its ends tothe ends of the depending legs 32 and 35.

Thus, movement of lever 22, manually or by one of the trips 15 or 17,displaces finger 25 arcuately around pivot 21 which moves one of thelegs 31 or 34 relative to the other causing the respective arm 30 or 33to pivot while the other arm is retained by the finger 27. Pivoting ofone of the arms 30 or 33 moves one of the legs 32 or 35 away from theother to further tension spring 36, and results in the operator assembly20 being in a cocked or charged condition. As soon as the slider plateof the detent/ plate sub-assembly 26 is moved out of its detentposition, spring 36 causes or biases the other of the arms 30 or 33 topivot and move the other of the legs 31 or 34 into engagement withfinger 25. This movement of the other of the legs 31 or 34 moves finger27 causing the plate assembly 26 to pivot to its other detent position.

A pair of spaced screw mounted bushing assemblies 37 and 38 areconnected to the terminal board 12 adjacent the bottom of panel 11 forsupporting a pair of slider bars 40 and each having a pair of slots forthe bushing assemblies and are the switch actuators of the timer 10.Slider bar 40 is disposed between the terminal board 12 and slider bar50.

An upwardly extending bracket member 41 is connected to slider bar 40nearer one of its ends (the right side of FIGURE 2) and is provided witha finger 42 which extends forwardly between the depending legs 32 and35, and through slot 28, panel 11 and the detent slider plate.Therefore, it should be understood that the finger 42 interconnects thepivot and detent slider plates of subassembly 26 for pivotation inunison, and is moved by movement of the other of the depending legs 32or 35 under the bias of the spring 36 after the operator assembly 20 iscocked to shift the slider bar 40 on the bushings 37 and 38. Slider bar40 is provided with a V-notch 47 in its bottom edge nearer its other endwhile slider bar 50 has a similar V-notch 57 which is axially offset andpartially overlaps notch 47. The bottom edges of slider bars 40 and 50are provided with corresponding elongated intermediate recesses 45 and55, respectively, having re spective switch actuator portions orprojections 46 and 56 protruding from opposing ends thereof.

To teach one form of the present invention, the timer 10 is arbitrarilyprovided with three switches 80, 85 and 90 which are actuated bymovement of the slider bars 40 and 50. The switches and are of an opentype and are mounted on the terminal board 12 adjacent opposite ends ofthe recesses 45 and 55 while the switch is mounted on the terminal boardadjacent the notched ends of the slider bars 40 and 50.

The switch 80 is provided a fixed contact 81 connected to a switchterminal 80a which is mounted on the terminal board 12, and spring arm82 which extends from another switch terminal 82a, also mounted on theterminal board, and has a contact 83 connected thereto. The spring arm82 biases the contact 83 into engagement with the fixed contact 81 toclose switch 80, and is positioned to be engaged by the actuator portion46 and moved thereby away from fixed contact 81 to open switch 80 inresponse to movement of the actuator means or slider bar 40, in adirection from right to left as viewed in FIG- URE 2.

The construction of the switch 85 is substantially the same as that ofthe switch 80 and is provided with a pair of terminals 86a and 87amounted on the terminal board 12. Its fixed contact 86 is connected tothe terminal 86a while its spring arm 87 extends from the terminal 87aand has a contact 88 connected thereto which it biases into engagementwith the fixed contact 86 to close the switch 85. In this instance, thespring contact arm 87 is positioned to be engaged by the actuatorportion 56 and moved thereby away from the fixed contact 86 to open theswitch 85 in response to movement of the actuator means or slider bar50, in a direction from left to right as viewed in FIGURE 2.

The switch 90 is of the enclosed snap switch type having an actuatinglever 91 and three conductor leads each connected to a differentterminal 92, 93 or 94 which are mounted on the terminal board 12.Therefore, switch 90 is connected as a single pole double throw switchwhich connects terminal 90 to terminal 93 when it is in one position,and connects terminal 90 to terminal 94 when it is in its otherposition. The actuator arm 91 of the switch 90 has a formed free endwhich engages and is retained in one position by one or both of thebottom edges of slider bars 40 and 50, and is released to move to asecond position only when notches 47 and 57 are both aligned with itsformed end. All of the switch terminals and the power terminals 19 and19a, which are mounted on terminal board 12, are provided with threadedmembers (see FIGURE 1) for connection to conductors when the timer isconnected into a system.

The motor or drive means of timer 10, in this instance, includes asecond motor 67 which is mounted on the reverse or rear side of panel11, and has leads which are connected to the power terminals 19 and 19aas are the leads of the dial assembly drive motor 13. The motor 67 hasan output shaft 68 which extends rearwardly therefrom to provide anexposed portion which is threaded and terminates in a free orunconnected end.

A second trigger or operator assembly 60 is provided which cooperateswith motor 67 for differential or delayed switch actuation. Referringalso to FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, the assembly 60 is provided with arearwardly extending pivot or axis 61 connected to panel 11. A pair ofoffset or scissor type arms 70 and 73, which correspond to arms 30 and33 of operator assembly 20, are

provided with slots by which they are mounted on the pivot 61. The arms70 and 73 have respective upwardly extending legs 71 and 74, andrespective depending downwardly extending legs 72 and 75 which areconnected at their ends to opposite ends of a tension spring 76.

A plate 62 is mounted intermediate its ends on the pivot 61 and has apin or finger member 63 which extends forwardly therefrom and betweenthe upwardly extending legs 71 and 74 of the scissor type arms 70 and73, respectively. Therefore, the arms 70 and 73 and plate 62 willpivotally move in unison on pivot 61. A leaf spring 64 is connected tothe plate 62 and has a reduced portion or reed 65 which extends from itsupper end and past the threaded output shaft 68 of motor 67. The bottomends of plate 62 and leaf spring 64 are slotted as indicated at 66.

It should be readily seen that pivotation of the plate 62 will move theleaf spring 64 along a path normal to the shaft 68 of the motor 67 andbetween two terminal positions (see FIGURES 2 and 2B) each on a side ofthe shaft 68 opposite from the other end, depending upon the directionof movement and its instantaneous position, thereby driving the reed 65into and out of edgewise engagement with the exposed threaded portionshaft 68. Initially, one of the edges 65a or 65b of reed 65 will bemoved from one of its terminal positions and into engagement with theshaft 68 adjacent the case of motor 67 as shown in FIGURE 3, and willride or be moved in the groove of the rotating thread causing the reed65 to progressively deflect out of its normal plane until it moves offthe free end of shaft 68. When the deflected reed 65 is moved out of anengaging position with motor shaft 68 and toward its other terminalposition, spring force due to deflection will return the reed to itsnormal plane. The time differential or delay derived by the assembly 60is determined by the speed of rotation, length and number of threads perunit measure of length of the exposed portion of the motor shaft 68 thatthe reed courses from initial engagement to the free shaft end.

A pair of bracket members 43 and 53, each similar to bracket member 41,are provided to interconnect the assembly 60 with slider bars 40 and 50,respectively. Bracket member 43 is attached to and extends upwardly fromthe slider bar 40, and has a finger portion 44 which extends forwardlybetween the depending legs 72 and 75 of the arms 70 and 73,respectively. Bracket member 53, attached to the slider bar 50, issimilar to bracket member 43 and has a finger portion 54 which extendsforwardly through the end slots 66 of the leaf spring 64 and the plate62, and then between the depending legs 72 and 75.

To describe the operation of timer it is assumed to be in its OFFposition in FIGURES 1 and 2 with motors 13 and 67 running. As shown, theswitch 80 is open, switch 85 is closed, switch 90 is in its firstposition and the edge 65a of the reed 65 is in one terminal positionadjacent to and spaced from shaft 68. The rotating dial assembly 14moves the lug 16 of the ON trip into engagement with lug 23 whichrotates lever 22 clockwise as viewed in FIGURE 1 or oppositely theretoin FIGURE 2, causing the operator assembly to assume a momentary cookedor charged condition as spring 36 becomes further tensioned until theplate sub-assembly 26 moves out of a releasing the detented conditionwhich frees the trigger or operator assembly 20 to rotate under the biasof the further tensioned spring 36 its position shown in FIGURE 2A.

At this time, as shown, spring 36 now has returned to its normaltensioned condition which rotated the arm 33 on the pivot 21 and throughbracket member 41 caused the slider bar to move to the right as viewedin FIG- URES 2 and 2A. This movement of the bar 40 permits the springcontact arm 82 to close the switch 80 and simultaneously activates thetime delay trigger or operator assembly 60 to assume a cocked or chargedposition. This is accomplished by the moving bar 40 urging its bracket43 against the leg 72 which causes the assembly to rotate on the pivot61 until the edge a of the reed 65 engages the exposed portion of themotor shaft 68, and continues to pivot the arm on the pin 63 to furthertension spring 76. Therefore, when assembly 20 moves from one detentedposition to the other, the slider bar 40 is moved for switch actuation,spring 76 is further tensioned to move the slider bar 50 which isrestrained against the bias by engagement of the shaft 68 by reed 65.

The edge 65a is moved by rotation of the shaft 68 in the thread grooveprogressively deflecting reed 65 out of its normal plane for a timeperiod delay determined by the speed of rotation, length and number ofthreads of the exposed portion of the rotating motor shaft 68 until edge65a runs off the end of the motor shaft. The further tensioned spring 76causes the arm 70, plate 62 and leaf spring 64 to rotate on the pivot61, which through the bracket member 53 shifts the slider bar 50 in thedirection to follow the slider bar 40, and carries the reed 65 acrossthe free end of motor shaft 68 to its other terminal position as shownin FIGURE 2B.

The timer 10 is in its ON position as shown in FIGURE 2B wherein theswitch 80 is closed, switch has been opened by the slider bar 50 and itsactuator portion 56, switch is still retained in its first position andthe reed 65 returned to its normal plane with its edge 65b now adjacentto and spaced from the motor shaft 68. It should be noted that when thetimer 10 was in its OFF position, as shown in FIGURE 2, only the notch47 was aligned with the formed end of the switch lever 91 and now whenin its ON position, as shown in FIGURE 2B, only the notch 57 is soaligned.

The differential switch operation or time delay between closing theswitch 80 as shown in FIGURE 2A and opening the switch 85 as shown inFIGURE 28 is made available to timer 10 by providing the motor 67 andthe assembly 60. To illustrate the versatility of the present invention,another form or momentary switch actuation operation is additionallyaccomplished when the timer 10 is operated or returned to its OFFposition.

With the mechanism of the timer 10 as shown in FIG- URE 2B, the motors13 and 67 continue to run, and the dial assembly 14 is continuouslydriven by motor 13. After a predetermined period or lapse of timefollowing timer operation by the ON trip 15, as determined by therelative positions of trips 15 and 17, the OFF trip 17 will operate thetimer 10 by engagement of the lever 23 by the trip lug 18. This luginterengagement rotates lever 22 counterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 1and causes the assembly 20 to respond in the same manner, but in theopposite direction, as was previously described.

Accordingly, the assembly 20 assumes its position as shown in FIGURE 2Cand shifts the slider bar 40 to its initial position as in FIGURE 2.Repositioning of the slider bar 40 moves its actuating portion 46against the spring contact arm 82 causing the switch 80 to open, andaligns the notch 47 with the notch 57 and the formed lever end to permitlever 91 to move to its other or alternate position and actuate theswitch 90 for disconnecting terminals 92 and 93, and connectingterminals 92 and 94. Now, the switches 80 and 85 are both open and theswitch 90 is in its second position. The assembly 60 again is cocked orcharged in the same manner, but in the op posite direction, as waspreviously described and the reed edge 65b now engages the rotatingexposed threaded portion of the motor shaft 68.

After the predetermined time delay interval, the reed edge 6517 will runoff the free end of the motor shaft 68, and the further tensioned spring76 will reset the assembly 60 causing the slider bar 50 to follow theslider bar 40. The follow-up movement of the slider bar 50 cams lever 91to actuate switch 90 to its first position and frees the spring contactarm 87 to close the switch 85 and the mechanism of the timer 10 hasreturned to 7 its original OFF condition as shown in FIGURE 2. Inaddition to providing a delay between opening the switch 80 and closingthe switch $5, the switch 90 is momentarily operated during the delayperiod.

The specific operation of the switches 80, 85 and 90 form no part of thepresent invention, but is provided merely to illustrate some of theswitching operations which are available when the present invention isembodied in a timer.

A timer 11A, as illustrated in part in FIGURES 6, 6A, 6B, 6C and 7, ismade in accordance with the present invention and embodies a pluralityof modifications of the mechanism of the timer 10. Although the variousmodifications are all illustrated in a single embodiment, eachmodification may be used alone or in combination with one or more of theothers.

In a timer 11A, the motor 13 is eliminated and the shaft 68 of the motor67, while not shown, also extends forwardly through the panel 11 and issuitably connected by gearing to drive a dial assembly.

The snap action operator assembly 20 and the time delay operatorassembly 60 of timer are combined to provide a single operator assembly110. To facilitate illustration and description, the lever 22 and platesubassembly 26 are omitted from the pertinent figures of the drawings. Asingle pivot 111 is provided in place of the pivots 21 and 61. The pairsof arms 30 and 33, and 70 and 73 are mounted on pivot 111 as is thepivot plate 62 and a modified leaf spring 112. The bracket members 4-1and 43 are now connected back to back to the slider bar 40 with thefinger ,42 extending forwardly to engage the same mechanism'parts as inthe assembly of the timer 10. The finger 44, in this instance, extendsrearwardly between depending legs 72 and 75.

The modified leaf spring 112 is bifurcated at its upper end replacingthe reed 65 of spring 64. Bifurcations 113 and 114 of the spring 112provide slot defining edges corresponding to reed edges 65b and 65a,respectively. With spring 112, the bifurcated end initially is deflectedout of its normal plane with bifurcation 113 engaging the free end ofmotor shaft 68. Operation in response to the ON trip 15 causes spring112 to move the formed slot into alignment with motor shaft 68permitting the deflected spring end to return to its normal plane andthe slot defining edge of the bifurcation 114 to engage the exposedthreaded portion of the motor shaft 68. When the slot defining edge ofbifurcation -114 is driven off the free end of shaft 68, the bifurcation114 is moved across and abuts the free motor shaft end untilsubsequently shifted by operation in response to the OFF trip 17 whichresults in similar cooperation between motor 67 and spring 112 with theslot defining edge of bifurcation 113 engaging the exposed threadedportion of the shaft 68. FIGURES 6, 6A, 6B and 6C illustrate the variouspositions of spring 112 relative to motor 68 corresponding to suchpositions of the spring 64 in FIGURES 2, 2A, 2B and 2C, respectively.

To achieve a time delay or differential switch actuation in onlydirection of timer operation, one of the bifurcations 113 or 114 isremoved. For illustration purposes, as shown in FIGURE 8, bifurcation113 is removed and only bifurcation 114 remains.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed in detail, it is to be ex- ;pressly understood that theinvention is not limited thereto. Various changes may be made in thedesign and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as the same will now.

be understood by those skilled in the art.

I claim: 1. A timer comprising: motor means; rotatable dial meansconnected to and driven by said motor means, and including positionableON and OFF trip means;

a snap action operator means movable between two positions by said tripmeans;

two actuator means connected to and movable by said operator means, eachfor actuating at least one switch; and

said operator means when moved to at least one of said two positionsproviding a bias to move one of said two actuator means, and with saidmotor means providing a restraint acting against the bias and delayingthe movement of said one actuator means for a predetermined period oftime.

2. The timer in accordance with claim 1, and said movement delayingmeans comprising:

a motor output shaft rotated by and extending from said motor meansthereby providing an exposed portion which is threaded along its exposedlength and terminates in a free end;

a leaf spring member included in and biased to move edgewise in responseto movement of said operator means, connected to said one of said twoactuator means for movement in unison, and having at least one contactedge movable thereby along a path transverse to said shaft and betweentwo terminal positions each on a side of the shaft opposite from theother;

said spring member moving said contact edge across the free end of saidshaft when biased to move said contact edge from one of said twoterminal positions to the other, and into engagement with the threadedportion of said shaft when biased to move said contact edge from saidother of said two terminal positions to said one of said terminalpositions; and

the threaded portion of said shaft causing said contact edge to movealong the shaft length and off the free end thereof, and said springmember to deflect with such movement of said edge and be moved by thebias across the free end of said shaft to said one of said two terminalpositions.

3. The timer in accordance with claim 1, and said motor and movementdelaying means comprising:

a drive motor having an output shaft extending therefrom which isconnected to and drives said dial means; second motor having a threadedoutput shaft extending therefrom in a direction opposite to the shaft ofsaid drive motor;

a leaf spring member included in and biased to move edgewise in responseto movement of said operator means, connected to said one of said twoactuator means for movement in unison, and having at least one contactedge movable thereby along a path transverse to said threaded shaft andbetween two terminal positions each a side of said threaded shaftopposite from the other;

said spring member moving said contact edge across the free end of saidthreaded shaft when biased to move said contact edge from one of saidtwo terminal positions to the other, and inter engagement with saidthreaded shaft when biased to move said contact edge from said other ofsaid two terminal positions to said one of said terminal positions; and

said threaded shaft causing said contact edge when in engagementtherewith to move along its length and off its free end, and said springmember to deflect with such movement of said edge and be moved by thebias across the free end of said threaded shaft to said one of said twoterminal positions.

4. The timer in accordance with claim 3, and:

said spring member having a normal plane through which said threadedshaft extends, and a free end which is offset edgewise and provides saidcontact edge along its edge in the direction away from said offset; and

said spring member being deflected from its normal plane with its freeend engaging the free end of said threaded shaft when in said one ofsaid two terminal positions, and in its normal plane with said contactedge adjacent to and spaced from said threaded shaft when in said otherof said two terminal positions.

5. The timer in accordance with claim 1, and said motor and movementdelaying means comprising:

a drive motor having an output shaft extending therefrom in onedirection being connected to and driving said dial assembly, and in theopposite direction providing an exposed portion which is threaded alongits exposed length and terminates in a free end;

a leaf spring member included in and biased to move edgewise in responseto movement of said operator means, connected to said one of said twoactuator means for movement in unison, and having at least one contactedge movable thereby along a path transverse to said shaft and betweentwo terminal positions each on a side of the shaft opposite from theother;

said spring member moving said contact edge across the free end of saidshaft when biased to move said contact edge from one of said twoterminal positions to the other, and into engagement with the threadedportion of said shaft when biased to move said contact edge from saidother of said two terminal position to said one of said terminalpositions; and

the threaded portion of said shaft causing said contact edge to movealong the shaft length and off the free end thereof and said springmember to deflect with such movement of said edge and be moved by thebias across the free end of said shaft to said one of said two terminalpositions.

6. The timer in accordance with claim 5, and

said spring member having a normal plane through which the exposedthreaded portion of said shaft extends, and a free end which is offsetedgewise and provides said contact edge along its edge in the directionaway from said offset; and

said spring member being deflected from its normal plane with its freeend engaging the free end of said shaft when in said one of said twoterminal positions, and in its normal plane with said contact edgeadjacent to and spaced fro-m said exposed threaded shaft portion when insaid other of said two terminal positions.

7. The timer in accordance with claim 1, wherein:

switch actuation by said one actuator means is a momentary actuationaccomplished by remaining in its restrained position after the otheractuator has moved and by the delayed movement thereof; and

switch actuation by said other actuator means is accomplished by itsmovement in response to each movement of said operator means from eitherof its said two positions to the other.

8. The timer in accordance with claim 1, wherein:

switch actuation by said other actuator means is accomplished by itsmovement in response to each movement of said operator means from eitherof its said two positions to the other; and

switch actuation by said one actuator means is accomplished by itsmovement in response to movement of said operator means from one of itssaid two positions to the other, and by its delayed movement in responseto movement of said operator means from the other of said two positionsto said one position.

9. The timer in accordance with claim 8, wherein said two actuator meanshave alignable means for momentary actuation of a third switch which isaccomplished by movement of said other actuator means while said oneactuator means is restrained from moving, and by delayed movement ofsaid one actuator means.

movement delaying means comprising:

a motor output shaft rotated by and extending from said motor meansthereby providing an exposed portion which is threaded along its exposedlength and terminates in a free end;

a leaf spring member included in and biased to move edgewise in responseto movement of said operator means along a path transverse to said shaftand between two terminal positions each on a side of the shaft oppositefrom the other, and connected to said one of said two actuator means formovement in unison;

said spring member having a pair of contact edges each moved intoengagement with the exposed threaded portion of said shaft when saidspring member is biased from a different one of its two terminalpositions;

the threaded portion of said shaft causing said engaging edge to movealong the shaft length and off the free end thereof and said springmember to deflect with such movement of said edge and be moved by thebias across the free end of said shaft to the other of its two terminalpositions.

11. The timer in accordance with claim 10, and:

said motor means including a drive motor having a shaft extendingtherefrom in a direction opposite to said motor output shaft and beingconnected to and driving said dial means, and another motor providingsaid motor output shaft;

said spring member having a normal plane through which said exposedthreaded portion of said shaft of said other motor, and a free endforming a reed smaller in size between its edges than the rest of thespring member; 5

the edges of said reed providing said contact edges of said springmember; and

said reed being disposed in the normal plane of said spring member and adifferent contact edge being disposed adjacent to and spaced from adifferent side of said exposed threaded shaft portion in each of the twoterminal positions.

12. The timer in accordance with claim 10, and:

said motor means including a drive motor having a shaft extendingtherefrom in a direction opposite to said motor output shaft and beingconnected to and driving said dial means, and another motor providingsaid motor output shaft;

said spring member having a normal plane through which said exposedthreaded shaft portion extends, and a free end which is bifurcated andhas a slot defined by opposed edges of said bifurcations which providesaid contact edges; and

the free end of said spring member being deflected out of the normalplane with a different bifurcation engaging the free shaft end in eachof the two terminal positions.

13. The timer in accordance with claim 10, and:

said motor means including a drive motor providing said motor outputshaft which extends therefrom, in a direction opposite from the free endthereof, and is connected to and drives said dial means;

said spring member having a normal plane through which said exposedthreaded portion of said shaft of said other motor, and a free endforming a reed smaller in size between its edges than the rest of thespring member;

the edges of said reed providing said contact edges of said springmember; and

said reed being disposed in the normal plane of said spring member and adifferent contact edge being disposed adjacent to and spaced from adifferent side of said exposed threaded shaft portion in each of the twoterminal positions.

14. The timer in accordance with claim 10, and:

said motor means including a drive motor providing 1 1 said motor outputshaft which extends therefrom, in a direction opposite from the free endthereof, and is connected to and drives said dial means; said springmember having a normal plane through which said exposed threaded shaftportion extends, and a free end which is bifurcated and has a slotdefined by opposed edges of said bifurcations which provide said contactedges; and the free end of said spring member being deflected out of thenormal plane with a different bifurcation engaging the free shaft end ineach of the two terminal positions.

'References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Flegel 200-40 Miller. Klein etal. 200-39 Goodhouse 200--39 Flegel 200-39 Harris.

10 ROBERT K. SCHAEFER, Primary Examiner.

H. O. JONES, Assistant Examiner.

